1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a femoral arterial or venous compression device for post-catheterization hemostasis comprised of a supporting frame, for fixing on the human body, carrying an inflatable unit which ends with a pad.
Femoral compression (compression of an incision site on the femoral artery or vein) is a step usually performed following angioplasty where enlarging the lumen of stenotic arteries takes place, thereby improving distal flow. In PTCA (Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty), inserting catheters via the percutaneous femoral approach is widely used to reach stenoses. Clearly, when the catheters are withdrawn from the femoral artery after the end of angioplasty procedure, the incision site must be tamponed for hemostasis. Due to the wide diameter of the femoral artery and to the anti-coagulant solution usually used in the blood during such procedures, hemostasis can only be reached applying constant pressure on the incision site for relatively long time.
2. Prior Art
The most practiced way is the manual one where an operator applies this pressure using a normal tampon. Obviously, it is a waste of time for personnel to complete hemostasis in the time required. Furthermore, the pressure practiced manually is never constant.